At the 1977 Frankfurt Motor Show, BMW unveiled its new variants of the E21, featuring the new six-cylinder M20 engines. The four cylinder 320 model was replaced with the 320/6, featuring a 2.0 litre version of the M20 engine. The 323i model was introduced, featuring 2.3 litres and 143 PS (105 kW; 141 hp) , empowering this car with a top speed of approximately 190 km/h (118 mph). The braking system was also upgraded, with the 323i featuring disc brakes on all wheels.

Successor to the BMW New Class, it has been produced in five different generations and in no less than five different body styles. It is BMW’s best selling automobile, accounting for nearly 40% of the company’s auto sales in 2005.

The series was created to aid BMW in building enough M1s to enter the Group 4 classification in the World Championship for Makes. The new series, known as the Procar BMW M1 Championship, served as a support series for Formula One, and included many current Formula One drivers in identical cars.

The series ran for two years, with Niki Lauda winning the 1979 season, and Nelson Piquet the 1980 season. After BMW met the standards for Group 4, the Procars were used by various teams in the World Championship as well as other national series.

The result was sold to the public, from 1978 to 1981, as the BMW M1. It was the only mid-engined BMW to be mass produced. It employed a twin-cam M88/1 3.5 L 6-cylinder gasoline engine with Kugelfischer mechanical fuel injection. A version of this motor was later used in the South African version of the BMW 745i, of which 209 examples were built between 1984 and 1986, as well as the E24 BMW M6/M635CSi and E28 BMW M5. The engine had six separate throttle butterflies, four valves per cylinder and produced 277 PS (273 hp/204 kW) in the street version, giving a top speed of 260 km/h (162 mph). Turbocharged racing versions were capable of producing around 850 hp (634 kW).

The cars were immediately fast, taking the pole position in qualifying. During the race, both cars ran towards the front for the first six hours. Unfortunately, V12 LMR chassis #001 suffered a large accident, damaging the car to the point that it would never race again. However, the second V12 LMR was successful in taking the overall win.

From Sebring, the team went back to Europe in order to prepare for the 24 Hours of Le Mans. In early May, at the initial test session for Le Mans, three V12 LMRs appeared. In the tradition of the famous BMW Art Cars, one of the three cars featured a paint job created by artist Jenny Holzer. Unlike at Sebring, the V12 LMRs would be facing closed cockpit prototypes which were theoretically faster over a single lap yet not as fuel efficient. Even with this apparent set back, a V12 LMR was able to take the 4th fastest lap time over the practice session, behind two Toyota GT-Ones and a Panoz prototype.

Immediately following the 1998 24 Hours of Le Mans in which both BMW V12 LMs had failed to finish due to mechanical difficulties and a slow pace caused by aerodynamic inefficiencies, BMW Motorsport made the decision to radically revamp their sportscar project and quickly replace the V12 LM with a new car for 1999, the V12 LMR.

Three decades later, the 3 Series is still the best-selling of its class,as commonplace in Asia, America and Australia as in Europe, and it has even outsold some cheaper models, like Ford Mondeo in the UK.

The 3 series has also maintained BMW’s racing heritage. The M version of the 3 series, M3, debuted in 1988.

German automaker BMW since May 1975. Successor to the BMW New Class, it has been produced in five different generations and in no less than five different body styles. It is BMW’s best selling automobile, accounting for nearly 40% of the company’s auto sales in 2005.

The car won many races, including the prestigious Mille Miglia — a class win in 1938 and the outright winner (with a streamlined body) in 1940. It also won the RAC Rally in 1939 and came in fifth overall (first in its class) in the 1939 Le Mans 24 hours.

After the Second World War, the manufacturing plant in Eisenach where the 328 had been built found itself in the Russian occupation zone, and automobile manufacturing in Eisenach would follow a state directed path until German Reunification in 1989. One of the Mille Miglia 328s (disguised as a Frazer Nash) and BMW’s technical plans for the car were taken from the bombed BMW factory by English representatives from the Bristol Aeroplane Company and Frazer Nash companies. Fiedler, the BMW engineer, was persuaded to come too.

BMW plans. This Bristol engine was also a common option in AC cars, before the Cobra.
The engine has hemispherical or cross flow combustion chambers. The intake valves are opened by the usual overhead valve push rod arrangement of a side cam, push rods, and rocker arms. The exhaust valves, on the other side of the cylinder head, are opened by the same cam shaft, vertical push rods, rocker arms, horizontal push rods, and a second set of rocker arms.